Go beyond the gross universe!

illustrations of gross and subtle.

The story of seven blind man touching an elephant!

Lot of people around the world today has 'fear psychosis' due to the prevailing disturbing state of affairs in each place. There is no 'kindness' anywhere. People hate one another. Groups hate rival groups. Those who are at the helm of affairs in government are scorned by the citizens for the laxity in administration. Corruption, hoarding, maladministration has become the order of the day everywhere. Who will give solace to the disgruntled people? All religious scriptures in the world, contain many solutions to the vaxing problems that confront the society.

We look at the gross elements and failed to notice the subtle one behind the gross. The gross is actually the manifestation of the subtle. The unseen is the base for the seen. Seeing do not constitute a true picture. There are many distortions in seeing. I am not talking about the cataract in the eye. I am talking about the 'cataract', the blurred one in our understanding of the seen. I will give a small example. We see various electrical appliances or gadgets around us in the home and work place. The lights are glowing, the fan is revolving, the air conditioner is cooling, room heaters gives warmness when there is cold weather outside. And we have the computer system etc. Though the functions of the different appliances seems different, only the invisible electricity enable them to function thus. You may have a valuable and costly computer or laptop. Without the current or battery, how they will function. We have automobiles everywhere. How they will start without electric spark igniting the fuel combustion?

This is what is essential. We fail to perceive the reality behind the seen. There is a big and beautiful mansion with nice exteriors and painted with pastel colors. While we appreciate the external architecture and lovely colors, we fail to recognize that there is an unseen foundation below the soil which really supports the beautiful structure. Here, what we see does not give a true picture. Also, though it is a nice building, it is also subject to withering after a period of 100 years or so. In the history books, we read about various kingdoms that existed in the past. We have remnants of some great kingdoms like the pyramids of Egypt, some artifacts of certain great empires in the form of pillars, walls and sculptures depicting various forms of human being etc. In India also, there was some remnants of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa civilizations which was unearthed by the archeologists. The utensils used by the early civilizations, some of the tools, some jewellaries made out of certain stones etc. There was a beautiful public bathing ghat which was designed nicely. They used bricks for the construction of the drains, houses etc. By looking at those artifacts, we can conclude that they were far advanced.By seeing those things, we can construe that there lived an orderly society in the ancient days which has knowledge of town planning etc.

These may be empty now, but they reveal about the culture of the ancient society. Hence, we have to infer about the past with the aid of the artifacts. The world as we see, present a picture of gross things and the inhabitants which include human beings, animals and other species. But we are not aware that the evolution of human beings took place many billions of years after creation. Primarily, there were minerals, from minerals to plants, from plants to insects and other herbivorous animals. Then birds, fishes and other aqua creatures. What we have failed to notice is that man has evolved primarily from minerals, plants, and other species. It is the evolution cycle. All of a sudden, man has not evolved. First there were gases like hydrogen and helium. Due to various chemical reactions, other gas molecules have evolved. Due to extreme heat and pressure, various planets came into existence including the stars etc.,It is a vast subject, no scientist can arrive at the correct answers of creation and evolution. But there is a Cosmic Self which pervade the entire creation, and transcends it too. It is immanent as well as transcendental. It is like the unseen electricity which activates the entire gamut of machines.

Hence by looking at the gross alone, we can not conclude anything. It is only a part of perception. We are like the seven blind man who happened to touch an elephant, each explains the elephant by the part they could touch. Hence, the man who touched the stomach portion asserted that the entity is like a big wall. The man who touched the legs said, it is like a big pillar, the one who touched the trunk said, it is like a big hose pipe. The one who touched the ears said, it is like a big fan! The man who touched the tail said, it is like a broom. They were arguing among themselves when an onlooker asked them why they are quarrelling? Each one explained the reason for the argument. The onlooker said, "none of you gauged it correctly. It is a big elephant with various parts. Each one took the assumption according to the part he accessed. We are all in the same predicament. None could go beyond the gross part of the universe and infer that a subtle power holds every thing intact!